The 19-year-old Queenslander was delighted on Monday morning after being picked up by the Lions as a priority Academy selection.
He will be officially added to the club's list with its round four pick in November's NAB AFL Draft, after the Lions matched Adelaide's bid.
The result caps a major turnaround for Freeman, who was last year overlooked at the draft by all 18 clubs and left unsure of his football future.
At 198cm and impressively agile for his size, he had the physical attributes to be an AFL key forward.
But there was one problem: he wasn't taking marks.
The solution came thanks to the keen perception of Lions Northern and Pacific Talent Identification Officer Ashley Drake.
"I had a pretty tough year last year," Freeman told AFL.com.au.
"I had a problem with my eyes.
"It wasn't to do with vision, it was just the way my brain was communicating with my eyes - they weren't working together.
"So I was always tracking behind the ball and it was always going over my head, which shot my confidence.
"Ashley Drake picked it up watching me play - Alastair Lynch had the same problem when he was at the Lions.
"So he decided to take me to see an eye doctor called Patrick Geary, and I did some exercises with him, and then attacked the end of the year and strung some good form together, and then took that into this year."
Suddenly, marking had gone from a weakness to a major strength, and the confidence was back.
"It made me realise that it wasn't just that I was a bad judge of the ball or that I was no good at footy. There was something internally wrong with me, which I could fix," Freeman said.
The Noosa product took his good form into this year's NAB AFL under-18 championships, where he booted three goals for Queensland against Vic Metro, and followed up with 17 disposals, eight marks and a goal against South Australia.
Although he was then slowed by the onset of osteitis pubis, which forced an end to his championships and to his season, Freeman had done enough to convince the Lions (the club he has barracked for since childhood) that he was worth a chance.
Although disappointed to miss out last year, Freeman can now see the benefit of having to wait longer to reach his goal.
"It (being overlooked last year) probably showed me just what it takes to get to that elite level," he said.
"I've really had the hunger this year to excel and become better in every area of my game."
